Piyush Goyal's 'gift to Bengaluru' sparks Hindi-Kannada debate

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday Tweeted some 'good news' for Bengaluru. In some much-awaited relief, Indian Railways will introduce a halt station near Kempegowda International Airport. However, this news was unwelcome among Twitterati.

Goyal's Tweet announcing the news had a video in Hindi, which was frowned upon amid recent language debates that have made many South Indians feel ostracised for not knowing the language.

"Railways' Gift to Bengaluru Flyers: Fulfilling decade-old demand of people, a halt Railway Station is coming up near Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru," Piyush Goyal's Tweet said.

Several users were quick to call out the "Hindi imperealism" and lack of the local language, Kannada, for dissipating the information.

Users also pointed out that in the capital of Karnataka, even if not Hindi, English would have sufficed, but the minister chose to disseminate the news only in Hindi.

Others also pointed out that it was hypocritical of the government to build infrastricture with taxpayers' money and call it a gift.

The Hindi-over-other-langauges debate has sparked a lot of angst recently, after political leaders like Kanimozhi and P Chidambaram said they have often faced "taunts" for not knowing Hindi.

Read: Kanimozhi’s experience not unusual, have faced similar taunts, says P Chidambaram